This study was aimed to characterize the laser cutting process for the cold rolled stainless steel sheet. The principal process parameters of the cutting process were applied to both the continuous wave form and the pulsed wave form for the laser output mode. The laser-oxygen cutting process and the laser-nitrogen cutting process were also considered to characterize the quality and efficiency of the cutting process. The laser-oxygen cutting process revealed the better productivity than the laser-nitrogen cutting process, since the laser energy and the exothermic oxidation energy exerted on the laser-oxygen cutting process simultaneously during the entire cutting process. However, the straightness of the cutting section, which was considered as the most important factors, was inferior to that of the laser-nitrogen cutting process due to the formation of chromum oxide on the cutting surface. Frequency and duration of the pulsed wave form act as the main factors for the better quality, When the frequency increased from 100 Hz to 200 Hz and the duty increased from 20% to 40%, the quality factors such as the height of dross and the surface roughness were improved remarkably. The increase in the frequency from 200 Hz to 300 Hz, on the other hand, revealed the less effective in the cutting quality.